South African Training Complete!

I officially have my South African commercial validation in hand. Tuesday a week ago I took my CAA written test on Air Law and Operations and on Monday of this week I took the commercial instrument checkride. Both went well, but the written test was by far the harder of the two. Who really cares what the VMC minima are in class A airspace? I suppose the FAA has many stupid questions as well.

I believe this checkride was the easiest I have ever taken. Because I had never flown a Seneca, the examiner told me exactly what airspeeds and power settings to use. All he wanted to see was that I know how to fly an airplane to commercial standards and that I know the correct procedures. After all was done, we took a aerial, scenic tour of Joburg at night. How cool is that! It is a beautiful city from the air - not so much from the ground.

As things stand right now, I am slated to leave for Kinshasa, DRC, Friday morning. I am really looking forward to getting out in the field and seeing what Africa is really like. According to Steve, this isn't Africa. "It is too much like the States." I concur. Other than driving through Joburg at night, by myself and giving up all my cash, I have yet to really feel out of my comfort zone.

In other news, I have officially got the driving down-pat. Not so bad if you follow what everybody else is doing. Just don't run the red lights like the guy in front of you. One odd thing that I have noticed is that tow trucks are strategically positioned at dangerous intersections waiting for accidents (kinda like vultures). It appears that the strategy is much more reactionary than precautionary. Not all that comforting....